NEW Lions captain Gareth Thomas walked off the pitch after last week's first-Test hammering and presented his jersey to one of the enemy.

His team had just been embarrassed, played off the park in a game which leaves the Lions having to win here in Wellington this morning to keep the series alive.

But Thomas saw the bigger picture. Lost in the world of bitterness spun this week between the two camps over the Umaga Affair lurks a genuine friendship between rivals. And while the Welsh wing-turned-centre will not be in giving mood today, his gratitude for what All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen did for him will not waver.

"Steve saved my career when he was Wales coach," said Thomas, known universally as 'Alfie'. "So I felt it was only right that he should have my first Lions jersey. I was on a downward spiral when he came along and I would probably not be here today if it had not been for him. Without him I'd have never had the jersey in the first place."

Thomas has had a sensational year, winning the Grand Slam with Wales and the European Cup with his French club Toulouse. He joined up with the Lions late but was quickly ushered into the Test team.

He will trump even those achievements, however, if he and the Welsh cavalry sent for after the calamity in Christchurch can bring Lions back from the dead.

Thomas was the unanimous choice of the Lions management to replace Brian O'Driscoll as skipper - a remarkable turnaround given that, during his time as Wales coach, Graham Henry did not rate him as a leader.

Asked if he would make a good captain, Henry famously replied: "The short answer is no and the long answer is no."

But when Henry returned to New Zealand to coach the All Blacks, his successor Hansen made it his business to straighten out a player who is now Wales' record try-scorer with 34 in 83 Tests. "I was doing a lot of things wrong, a lot of things a professional rugby player should not be doing," Thomas recalled.

"Steve pulled me aside and said 'if you want to be part of this squad these are the rules you need to abide by. These are the fitness levels you need to reach.' I went away and took a long hard look at myself."

The result is a player that the All Blacks are wary of.

"Alfie's a good man, good with the troops," said Henry. "He'll rally the Lions team."

In many ways Thomas holds the key to today's clash as the Lions must switch philosophy from their English way of thinking a week ago to the very different way of the Welsh.

Rather than focusing on not losing, they have to go out and try to win. It is a risk to attack New Zealand where they are at the strongest, on the wide outside, but it may also be their best chance.

So the question is whether the Lions have the courage to fully embrace the Welsh way.

The answer is likely to determine whether Sir Clive Woodward's team live to fight another day, or become just another statistic on the lengthy list of failed Lions tours to New Zealand.